We cannot get the best out of our Gov if our bureaucrats are afraid to speak out. Senate (Gerard Rennick)

If we are to sort out Government corruption in this country we need much stronger Whistleblower protections in place.

I have been personally contacted by a number of people who have been too afraid to speak out against corruption in the government for fear of reprisal.

Richard Boyle is just one whistleblower who needs greater protection for trying to do the right thing.

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Whistleblower Richard Boyle will face a trial and potential prison term after judge Liesl Kudelka found his actions were not immune to prosecution under the Public Interest Disclosure (PID).
“The court’s decision that Boyle’s whistleblowing on wrongdoing within the ATO was not covered by the PID Act shows that the law is utterly broken.”

When he was an ATO employee, Boyle grew increasingly concerned about the office’s aggressive debt collection tactics.

The Adelaide man tried to report his concerns internally, then to the inspector general of taxation. Nothing happened, so eventually he went public and appeared on the ABC’s Four Corners program to tell his story. The charges against him – which he says came from when he was trying to collect evidence – included taping private conversations without consent and taking photos of taxpayer information.

Boyle sought protection under the PID Act after he went public. He was hoping to be granted immunity from prosecution over the 24 charges against him because they were part of the process of making a public interest disclosure.

The independent MP Andrew Wilkie said Monday’s ruling again showed the deficiencies in the PID Act. He said the government, which is intending to reform the act, should intervene to stop the prosecution until its review of the legislation is completed.

“Mr Boyle would never have been in this position if we had strong whistleblower protections in place,” Wilkie said.



Transparency in science is vital, to keep people honest when it comes to getting at the truth of things, and so it should be with the bureaucracy. This is a really important short clip about accountability. The Gov only exists, as we understand it today, because it collects taxes from businesses and workers. If it's crushing these people it's become a monster that needs to be challenged.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, August 21, 2024.]